History and Growth of Padel

Padel is a mix of Tennis and Squash. It is an energising racquet sport played in doubles on an enclosed court structure made out of glass and metal, which is one-third the size of a tennis court. Using a short, string-less racquet, and a low compression tennis ball, the service is underhand and shots can be played after the ball bounces off the surrounding glass walls. The scoring system is same as tennis.

Padel originated in Acapulco, Mexico in 1969. Enrique Corcuera, a Mexican industrialist was in search for a less exhausting & a family-oriented racquet sport. He decided to integrate tennis and squash by modifying the tennis court, rules and the racquet to create this new sport.

One of Enrique’s friends was Alfonso de Hohenlohe, the founding figure of Marbella in Spain and the man who is associated with turning the sleepy town into a well-known beach resort destination that it is today. While visiting Mexico in 1974, Hohenlohe enjoyed this new game so much that he decided to import it to Spain’s Costa del Sol- where he built Spain’s first two Padel courts at the Marbella Club.

There was no looking back after that. Soon enough, matches were organised to spread Padel across Spain and several clubs decided to construct their own courts including converting tennis courts into Padel facilities, to enjoy a high return on their investment. Padel was a huge success and is now the second most played sport in Spain after Football with more than 5 million players and 10.229 courts

In 1975, the Argentine millionaire Julio Menditenguia, a good friend of Alfonso de Hohenlohe and a regular visitor to Marbella, witnessed the success of Padel. He then decided to promote and develop the sport in Argentina. Today there are approximately 10,000 courts across the country.

On the 25th July 1991, the Federación Internacional de Pádel (FIP) was established in Madrid, Spain and Julio Artiach Joy was appointed as the president and was successful in creating a circuit of international tournaments and championships. Today there are about 26 countries that are affiliates of the FIP.

The World Padel Tour (WPT) was founded in 2013. Each year there are between 15-20 WPT tournaments plus a Final Master in which the best pairs of the ranking compete. Participating players travel across different cities around the world to score points and enter the Final Masters, where only the 8 best couples of the rankings come after completing the season.

The 2016 World Padel Championship is surely a one to remember with Argentina at the top in the male category and Spain confirming its superiority over the rest of the ladies. The Championship took place from 14th to 19th Nov in Cascais, Portugal.